PRACTICE – My First Bicycle – 10min

What pleasant memories this prompts. My first bicycle was the only one I ever owned. A Birthday present, back in the dark ages…1946. She was a beautiful blue and cream colored girl’s Schwinn. Before bikes had “models,” your bike was simply either for a male or female! I have to admit, as time went by, that I secretly admired my best friend’s English “racing” bike. It had narrow, harder tires and seemed to be easier to pedal than the fat, “balloon” tires on the Schwinns.

There were no school bus rides for daily use, only for field trips. Before we got our bikes, we walked the few blocks to elementary school. Mine was received shortly before I entered 5th grade. In the city of Los Angeles, the schools were planned so that no one had more than five blocks to walk. Our school was on Victory Blvd, and that was its name, as well. It had been built in the 1920′s or 30′s, in a Spanish style; with arches of stucco, the color of adobe, and red tiled roof. It had to be razed after extensive damage it received in the “Northridge” earth quake. Elizabeth and I rode our bikes together to Jr. High for three years, which was two miles away.

My fondest memories are of our summertime rides to and from North Hollywood Park, about a mile from Elizabeth’s and my homes. Both the Library and Plunge, (aka public swimming pool) were in the park, and we pedaled back and forth; our baskets full of library books, bathing suits & towels. Summer mornings might be for chores our Moms had lined up, but the afternoons were gloriously free.

Marylin, my uncle had an English racing bike and I remember how sleek and light it seemed back then. I used to admire his bike when I’d go to visit. I wanted to ask if the library is still there that you used to pedal by. Love the photograph! Is that your house in the background?

I will have to research the fate of the library, and will let you know. It was built in the typical Spanish Mission style. Since there wasn’t “central air conditioning” at that time, I remember it as a cool refuge from the summer heat in the San Fernando Valley. The photo was taken in the front yard of our home. The white picket fence was the neighbor’s, with their driveway adjacent to it. Their windows had “modern” Venetian Blinds. The “spiky” bush in back of me was a Pyracantha shrub, which had red berries in the winter, and we used it in Christmas decorating. The climate was not cool enough for growing Holly.

I love those details of the photograph. I would not have known what the bush behind you was. You made me curious to learn more about modern Venetian blinds. I had no idea of the history until you mentioned it. As you probably already knew, the light weight aluminum Venetian blind was developed the same year as your family took this photo – 1946!

Hunter Douglas was the first company to develop a light, aluminum Venetian blind in 1946.The mini blind, featuring a one-inch slat, came on the market in the 1960s, followed in the 1990s by the half-inch micro blind. Today, two-inch wood blinds have regained popularity. Read more: History of Venetian Blinds (LINK).